A Tale of NeverBeens
by Eternal Longing
Summary: Things that remain are things that can leave. Nothing stays unchanged and nothing stays changed forever. A blink of the eye, and all things are not as they once were, but what they might be... Things that could have been, but never will be. Mei Oneshots
1. Tale One: Separation

**A Tale of Never****Beens**

_Tale One: Separation  
_

Armed with only her staff and the shadows of nothing, Takane crept through the ancient forest as soundless as night, and aided by night's embracing darkness, her feet lead her to a break in the forestry where the brush upon which she softly tread gave way to an expanse of grey. A jagged, definite line separated the wild jungle from the plain of stone which rose up into a towering block, moonlit white upon black. It would have been awe-inspiring and breath-catching had it not been the cause of all the trouble that Takane now found herself in. The thought pushed her on out of the safety of the shadows and into the open air.

Immediately, upon taking the first step into the moonlight, she felt like a deer trapped in the headlights of a speeding car that was about to trample her into the ground. She froze, but nothing rose up from the shadows that now seemed scary instead of reassuring. Jumping at every little sound, she made her way across the barren landscape that was so different from the one behind her, all lush and leafy and right behind her just one glance back. But Takane didn't look back because she knew that her courage would desert her all at once if she so much as turned her head. Instead, her eyes stayed apprehensively riveted upon the destination that brought such dread into her.

She knew that she was doing something horribly wrong, something that no member of the Goodman family would have done in their right mind, even out of necessity. But out of necessity, she was about to break one of the most basic tenets of mage-hood: Never charge in headfirst.

------

At that moment in time, Mei had no idea what would be worse, being seen as a human or being treated like an animal. What she did know, at that moment, was which one terrified her more.

As they would have done to a wild pig, her captors had bound her wrists and ankles together so that she lay sprawled on the ground without being able to do more than squirm. Then, they had started tossing all sorts of weird powders including what she thought rather suspiciously smelled like black pepper. Of course, the act of breathing it in had given her such a sneeze that her nose had burned for several minutes after.

After they had seasoned her, they had left her there to age like a keg of wine, except a keg of wine didn't need to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. Blessed sleep had decided to forsake her so she had done the only thing left that her exhausted body could do: think.

------

It was strange, very strange, Takane thought, that there were no guards posted at the base of the tower. The denizens of this place were either very trusting or didn't care if their guests came voluntarily or involuntarily. Capturing Mei and taking her away hadn't helped reinforce the former very much. Thinking about it again brought up the same guilty feeling that had plagued her while she had pressed through the dauntingly large forest. It was her fault that her friend had been captured, a carelessness on her part. If only she had been more attentive to the robed man's questions. If only she hadn't been so prideful in her answers. If only she hadn't been so arrogant when talking to Mei. If only she hadn't spoken in so condescending of a manner. If only, if only, if only… but now was not the time to regret.

------

Her prison had no locked gates and no bars, but its boundaries were real. Windowless, grey walls, uniform in their appearance, enclosed three sides of the room, the last side open to a dim, obscuring fog. But though her mind had been clouded when she had been carried to her cell, her hazy memories had noted the spiraling staircase that led up to the highest part of the tower. Thinking about her capture again brought up the same guiltiness that had plagued her through her drugged sleep. If only she had been more careful, less rebellious, more tolerant of Takane's usual eccentricities. If only she had not run away…

------

Takane strode through the tower followed by a growing dark mist. She was sure that there was a trap; why else would the great hall that she had walked into be so brightly lit yet completely empty? Her senses strained for every hint of danger whether it came from sight, sound, or smell. When nothing triggered warning signals, Takane was forced to revise her opinion. The feeling that something was wrong hung thickly around her, but though the mage thrust it aside it continued to permeate the air. She hurried on.

------

Mei struggled again against her bindings, but they proved far stronger than her frail strength. The rope tight around her wrists and ankles felt cool like manacles yet too rough to be metal. Little grunts escaped from her mouth as she tried to wrench her hands apart as silently as she could. Yet, silence would not help her if she could not be freed. Oh, how she wished she had her wand!

------

Darkness was her ally, but now Takane felt betrayed. The black shadows clung to every wall, every surface and corner so that all was the same. There was no telling how far she had gone through the tower's formidable area. All she knew was that she was steadily heading up despite there being no stairs to climb. Then, a sliver of light poked through out of the gloom. Blackness evaporated into a soft blue-white glow that shone from the edges of a large door, as grey and uniform as all the others she had passed.

Hesitantly, fearing the repercussions of any such action, Takane opened it to the sound of music.

------

Someone was coming. She could tell from the slight, hesitant footsteps that filled up the void of silence that hung upon her like a coarse, smothering blanket. A low hum that sounded strangely like music began to creep over the accompanying tapping of feet, but it halted so suddenly that Mei felt as if she hadn't heard it at all. Torchlight filled the doorway as something short and hunched entered the room and Mei shivered despite herself. Coal-like, smothering eyes stared at her from beneath the hood that was part of the dark green robe it was wearing. As her dry mouth began to shout, she took a deep breath and choked as something that was not air got into her lungs. Now retching though there was nothing able to come up, Mei felt the tears stream down her face. The last thing her disoriented mind could tell were the glaring eyes leering down at her and her consciousness fading like the end of the tunnel as if she was falling into a dark pit, light above and only emptiness below.

------

It was an elevator.

What an elevator was doing in an environment that usually destroyed such technology was beyond her, but Takane had no choice but to let it take her wherever it went. There was no way up from the bottom; this was the only way to reach Mei. Takane could only hope it wasn't too late.

The doors opened and a hand reached out to grab her. Only her quick reflexes saved her as she jerked back out of reach. Acting on the moment, Takane reached into the well of her power and launched a mass of magic through the elevator door. She caught a glimpse of her attacker's panic-filled eyes before a massive shadow gauntlet ripped apart his thin robes and blew him far off down the hall.

The commotion brought Takane to the center of attention. Doors all along a dark hallway slammed open and a wave of men surged out like an army of armored ants. A scowl darkened her face as she quickly retreated back into the elevator but a sudden flash of movement stopped her. Only one person was not advancing towards her and that person had a child draped over his back. Mei.

All thoughts of retreat left her mind then and there, chased away by a feral rage that slowly began to consume her. Her magic responded to her anger; the usually calm pool of magic deep within her churned and rose up out of its constraints to permeate the hall with floating motes of dark magic.

Her enemies attacked but their puny weapons, sticks of iron, could do nothing against solidified shadows. With a negligent thought, Takane broke their line and with another, slammed the soldiers to the side so that the sea of bodies was split apart. Mei's captor saw her coming and started to run but Takane started running as well, and she ran much faster.

Those men still conscious leapt into her way but quickly leapt back out again when faced with a wall of magic bullets and shadow gauntlets. Her prey ran through a door at the end of the hall, but the hunter had its target marked; there was no escape.

With such notions dampening her thoughts, Takane raced into the large, circular chamber at full speed, only to meet a wave of arrows. None got through her personal shield but the combined force was enough to lift her off her feet and slam her against a wall where it deemed fit to deposit her.

The mage shook her head but the dizziness from the impact did not go away. Unsteadily, she lurched to her feet and glared at the line of archers surrounding her with bowstrings pulled taught. She faced the wall, a thin line between her and the friend she was sworn to protect.

"I thought we had taken care of you back there in the forest," the robed man said as he laid Mei upon a stone table. "Even mages die when they bleed."

Takane answered with the first words she had spoken in three days: "You almost had me there, but it wasn't quite enough. Mages don't die that easily, especially when they have someone important to them taken away."

"Funny you should mention 'taking away' because this will be the second time in three days," the man laughed in reply and brandished a knife. In that moment, a violent gust of wind blew the hood off of his face revealing the smoldering eyes of a demon's face, a wicked smirk stark against its unearthly pallor. In Takane's eyes the stone table transformed into a stone altar.

"Mei!" Takane exclaimed, triggering her magic. Multiple translucent shadow tendrils that she had snuck through undetected while speaking simultaneous cut through all the bowstrings pointed at her. The result sent arrows clattering everywhere, some finding a target in a neighbor's flesh. Takane took the momentary confusion to her advantage, knocking over the wall of archers with a rippling wave of raw magic. She followed the wave straight at the demon and followed again as the demon too was knocked away by the magic.

As the dark creature stumbled back, Takane formed an image of a sword in her mind and swept her hands downward. Only the demon's reflexive reaction saved it from being cleaved in two. Takane clenched her teeth as she struggled against the dangerous entity, her blade warring against its armored arm.

A laugh of pure glee erupted from the demon's throat when the mage could not finish her decisive blow. With considerable ease, it pushed back at the magic sword as it rose onto its feet and knocked Takane away with its other arm.

This time, Takane didn't need a wall to stop her movement. With a herald of billowing smoke, a faceless puppet reared from the ground and caught Takane in its shadowy embrace. Almost immediately, Takane touched ground and launched herself back at the demon.

As she had regained her footing, the demon had begun a terrible chant that sent shockwaves reverberating through the chamber. Its human henchmen fell back onto their knees, their bows clattering out of their hands. Now, with one last shout of triumph, it pumped a fist into the air. With the same upwards motion, a cage of bone burst out of the stone floor and encircled Takane. She slammed into the pale white bars but was launched back into the center of the prison.

But her puppet, which had followed close behind, found the bone no obstacle at all and flowed around both walls to meet its fellow creature of darkness head on. Its formless body lengthened into a whip with which it struck at its target. Casually, the demon reached out, grabbed the magic shadow, pulled it closer, and ended its existence with a lightning quick punch. Then, it strode nonchalantly up to the bars of its caged prisoner.

Takane launched a barrage of magic missiles against the bone spires barring her way to no avail. Even the strongest blow she could manage with her shadow sword could not even nick the demonic material.

"Well now, what was all that about?" her nemesis crossed its arms. "Weren't you going to rip me apart to save your precious friend?"

"Who said anything about ripping you apart? I was going to eviscerate your corpse after slaying you like a beast!"

"Fat chance now, mage," it laughed with a voice that grew several pitches deeper as it did so. "Now, I've decided that you'd taste much better as a full course meal than that ragtag, skinny little girl would." Takane growled but the demon only smiled. "But don't worry; I'll save her for dessert."

Its triumphant laughter was cut several notches short by a horrid rasping and gargling as it stared down at a sudden addition to its body. The demon toppled forward with the blade of light still in its chest and hit the floor where it exploded into a mass of black dust.

"I didn't like him even when he had his hood on," Mei frowned as she looked down at the remains of her captor.

Takane gasped a sigh of relief and rushed up to her friend as the bone prison joined its creator as nothing more than a pile of dust. Without warning, Mei found herself in a warm embrace. Awkwardly, she put her arms around Takane as the older girl sobbed and apologized over and over again.

As Mei comforted her rescuer with the reassurance that she had already forgiven her and that she was at as much as fault as Takane was, Mei knew that things would be all right again.

After all, they were together once again.

**~Fin**.

---

The rights and properties of Negima and all associated versions of Negima are owned by Ken Akamatsu. All other elements are completely original.

Story written by Eternal Longing.


	2. Tale Two: Luck

**A Tale of NeverBeens**

_Tale Two: Luck_

Mei Sakura had always known that danger dogged her every step—being a mage was a danger in its own right—but the danger that followed her now seemed less a result of who she was than what she was.

Mei Sakura was lucky.

As a child, she had been tested for magic and found to hold potential. After preliminary training, Luminarium Academy in America accepted her with a full two-year scholarship. Then, having gone to Luminarium for less than a year, she was picked to be the apprentice of Takane Goodman, eldest daughter of one of the most prestigious magic families in the world. The two's accomplishments in their missions had given Mei, if not fame and prestige, the respect and friendship of her colleagues.

Now she trained in Mahora Academy which was one of, if not the, most well known schools of magic research.

Without a doubt, Mei was lucky, but Takane was the polar opposite. Embarrassing situation after embarrassing situation, accidents that evaded logistics, but even so, Takane still felt like an older sister to Mei.

But now, this very same sister lay lying on the ground in front of her in the middle of a small but growing pool of blood.

"Takane-neechan…"

She stared past her spattered red hands at her dear friend's still body, and fell to her knees, then to her hands. Her blood-soaked hands slapped into the red liquid. Tears dripped from her eyes.

She had stolen all of Takane's luck.

The zing of a bullet startled her. Above her, a still-spinning bullet hung arrested in mid-air. It began to vibrate, and Mei scrambled backwards with a cry. She made out the barely visible tint of Takane's summoned shadow. Metal pushed valiantly against magic, but in the end, magic won.

The bullet hit the ground with a clink, joining the sea of metal cylinders that surrounded her on all sides.

She shuddered and the panic returned.

"Takane!" She shook the wounded mage. The blood staining her hands only served to increase her efforts.

Takane grimaced and groaned, eyes clenched shut. Mei jumped back. She gasped. "I'm sorry. Forgive me. I'm sorry, just… please wake up!"

She buried her face in her hands, crying, not caring that doing so made red rivulets run down her face.

---

"Takane-neechan, how do I look?" Mei asked, clutching a white dress to her chest. She spun around, giggling.

It was not often Mei got to go shopping with Takane. In fact, she could count the number of times they had done something frivolous together on her fingers. Well, if she had three hands, but that was beside the point.

Takane scrutinized the dress. "It's nice, proper for a girl your age. I approve."

Mei whirled to a stop, rosy cheeked and smiling. Takane smiled back, but she seemed distracted, like something was on her mind.

"What's wrong?" Mei asked, but the answer was, of course, that nothing was wrong. A little hurt that Takane still kept things from her, she pouted, "You never tell me anything."

Takane laughed lightly, covering her mouth with a hand. "If you knew what I knew, then you'd be the master and I'd be the apprentice."

Mei stuck out her tongue.

Her master lifted and eyebrow. "That's not proper behavior for a lady, Mei."

Mei rolled her eyes. "Yes, _sensei._"

Takane rapped Mei lightly on the head and began giving Mei a lecture about proper attitude, but then, without warning, she stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes narrowed and she looked left, right. "Mei, stay behind me."

The transition from smiles to dead seriousness startled Mei, but her training took over. She stepped behind Takane.

All of a sudden, she realized that there was no "behind" in the open plaza. She realized an even more alarming fact: the shopping plaza was empty.

Mei mimicked Takane, eyes darting left then right. There was not a single soul around. Not even the lady who had, only moments before, shown her the dress she was still holding.

"Mei, down!"

Shadows rose into the air around them. Mei flattened herself against the ground, but Takane remained standing.

Thinking back, Mei would wonder if it would have gone any different if Takane had taken her own advice.

There was a sharp whistle, and then a ping. A bullet rolled to a stop in front of Mei's face. Mei touched the bullet, recoiled from the heat. There was a blur of red where she had touched it. She held up her hand. It was covered with flecks of red as if from a paintbrush. She touched her face, and came away with more of the warm, sticky stuff.

Mei looked up. Takane gave her a weak smile and collapsed. There was a heavy thud, and then the shadows rose up around them on all sides, a final bastion.

And that was how an ordinary shopping trip had segued into a living nightmare.

---

Mei wiped her face, only slightly calmer. Slightly meant that, while she was no longer screaming, it was all she could do to sit there, shaking.

"Princess, you can't hide behind that shield forever. You know what I want, and it's not you." A voice, echoed in the empty plaza.

Mei quickly put two and two together. Takane's family was famous and such a family had countless enemies.

Another bullet, but this time the shadow didn't stop it completely. The bullet nicked Mei's cheek, drawing blood. She touched the wound and flinched.

Where was the assassin? She searched the surrounding buildings, every window, every rooftop, all to no avail.

"I-I'm not letting you take Takane away from me!"

"Seems like it's only a matter of time, princess. Why don't you give up now? I might be a professional killer, but I don't believe in unnecessary bloodshed."

A bullet hit the ground near her feet, sending up a spray of red. She was kneeling in a pool of blood.

Something in her snapped.

"Hypocrite!" she screamed and shot to her feet.

She pulled out her wand from her pocket, leaving a red smear on her pants. Magic swirled around her, fiery red, a vortex of raw emotions. A chorus of bullets sang out, but Takane's shadow knocked them off course so they gouged stone instead of flesh.

Mei, power coursing through her body, saw the faint flash of a gun atop a faraway building.

"There you are!"

The vortex of magic erupted out and up, into the air, taking on the shapes of arrows mid-flight. They drew an arc in the sky, then fell like a hail of missiles on the building. The roof was consumed by a massive explosion.

When the dust cleared, nothing remained of the top floor. The heat of the flames had melted the stone smooth.

As she stood there, breathing heavily, the shadow, with the last of its strength used up, disappeared. The roar in her ears faded away. Mei clutched her wand and shook.

The whistle of a bullet shattered the silence.

Pain ripped through her leg. She screamed, clutching her leg, falling onto her back. She screamed until her voice cracked and splintered. Tears blurred her vision. It was all she could do to remain conscious.

"Displacement magic charms. Useful things, but they cost quite a pretty penny."

Mei looked behind her, teeth clenched to keep from crying out.

The assassin held a burning scrap of paper and watched it disappear in a wisp of smoke. Lips distorted by the blur of her tears smiled. It was a tight-lipped smile, no teeth. It was a hateful smile.

Mei whipped her wand at him. There was a bang and the wand leapt out of her hand before she could even open her mouth.

"Like I said, I don't like unnecessary bloodshed." He lowered his rifle and walked over to her. With a sigh, he squatted down in front of her.

Mei bristled. She lashed out at him, but he caught her hand effortlessly.

Using the barrel of his gun, he tipped up her chin so they were eye to eye.

His eyes were light blue, almost white, and cold, with a hard edge. Mei didn't look away. She hated him too much to be afraid.

"So," he said, "are you going to be a good girl and let me do my job, or do I have to pull the trigger?

She said nothing.

"So… gonna be a good girl?"

Mei smiled and spat in his face.

"When hell freezes over."

"I see."

He made a show of standing, taking every movement exquisitely slow. Then, reaching full height, he spun and kicked her with his heel. The impact snapped her head to the side and threw her back. She slid until she crashed into a crate. Its contents were sent clattering to the ground.

"I don't feel like satisfying your suicide wish, princess." He cracked his neck. "There's no bounty on your head."

Mei groaned and lifted her head. The assassin aimed his gun at Takane's prone form. Fresh tears leaked from her eyes. Her vision blurred again.

Why was she so powerless? All the things she had learned, useless. She clenched shut her eyes.

"Yo, big guy with the gun."

Mei snapped open her eyes.

"Picking on girls, what kind of man are you?"

She caught a look of bewilderment on the man's face before Kotaro was upon him.

Kotaro gave the assassin a good, hefty kick in the side that knocked him off his feet and into the air.

The assassin regained his feet, but in that moment, Kotaro's fist sent him flying again. His response was a series of gunshots, but Kotaro evaded the bullets with inhuman speed.

"You monster!"

"Why thanks," Kotaro smirked and launched a blurred mass of black energy at the assassin. The energy resolved into the form of a black wolf.

A second before the wolf tore him into pieces, the assassin vanished, leaving behind only a burning slip of paper drifting to the ground.

Kotaro spun around, but he was too late. A trio of bullets pierced through Kotaro's back. The boy collapsed onto his knees, fell forward, and hit the ground face first.

"Kotaro!"

The assassin wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth. "That'll teach you to mess with me."

"Ho, that was close."

"Wha…?"

The assassin took a step back from the three Kotaros that had appeared out of the blue, one squatting, one looking over his shoulder, and one resting using his shoulder as an armrest.

"But what was that? Instant movement?" they spoke in unison. "You really are something, aren't you?"

"What? How did you–?" he began, but the one behind him clamped a hand over his mouth and held razor sharp nails to his neck.

The other two Kotaros crossed their arms and said, "One wrong move and he'll—I mean I'll skewer you."

Mei closed her eyes in relief. She felt herself begin to drift. Her body was one aching mass of pain and her head felt like it was about to split apart.

"Mei."

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. Kotaro stood over her with a concerned look.

"Are you all right, Mei?"

Mei sniffed, nodded, and took his proffered hand. Her leg screamed as Kotaro pulled her up and helped her stand.

"Ouch, ouch, careful. Whoa–" Mei wrapped her arms around Kotaro's neck for balance.

At that moment, the assassin slammed his head into the Kotaro clone behind him hard enough to send it flying away. He spun, slapping away another clone with his gun.

"Like I'm going to–"

Words turned to a scream. He swung the barrel of his rifle at the last clone, whose hand had impaled his side. As the clone was knocked away, its entire hand came out of the assassin's wound with a slurp.

"–to just let it end like this," he finished, staggering. "It's not over, you little brats!"

The assassin turned his gun on them. Kotaro narrowed his eyes and Mei could feel him tense.

The assassin laughed. "Die!"

A giant fuuma shuriken struck the ground just as the assassin pulled the trigger. The bullets pinged harmlessly off the weapon. A figure landed behind the shuriken.

"Sorry it took us so long to get here. There was a barrier we had to break through."

"Nagase-san?"

"Yo. You're late, Kaede-neesan."

On the other side of the impromptu shield, the assassin cursed as he reloaded his weapon. "That guy didn't tell me–"

A single, sharp crack of gunfire cut him off. He was thrown backwards off his feet, blood spurting from his head. He hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Mei gasped.

"Don't worry; he's just unconscious," Kaede said. "Mana doesn't shoot to kill."

"But… all the blood."

"Hey, he'd bleed too if I socked him in the head," Kotaro swaggered.

"Ah, there they are."

"They?"

A group of mages in white robes arrived on the scene. One of them began shouting orders and within moments, the group had the assassin in custody. The man wasn't in much shape to retaliate, but they took no chances, handcuffing him, paralyzing his body with magic, the works.

Two cars drove into the plaza: an ambulance and a police car, both emblazoned with Mahora Academy's emblem.

Kaede gave Mei a wink. "I'm going to go keep Mana company. You rest well, okay?"

Mei nodded.

"See you around," said Kaede, and then the girl vanished.

One of the mages broke off from the rest of the group and came over to where Kotaro and Mei were standing.

"Did you do something again, Kotaro-kun?'

Kotaro crossed his arms. "It's not my fault this time."

The man ruffled the boy's hair and laughed. "Well that's good. You cause us enough trouble as it is. At least you're on our side this time."

Mei took one hand off of Kotaro's neck and gripped the man's robe. "Please," she said when he looked at her. "Please, help Takane-neechan."

He smiled. "Of course. The healers are already on it. You should get your wound looked at too."

True to his words, a three of the mages were bent over Takane. The warm glow of healing magic enveloped her body.

"Feh, campus security," Kotaro growled. He raked a hand through his hair. "I can't stand those guys."

Mei watched as the healers wrapped Takane up with careful motions and then slowly lifted her up into the ambulance. When Takane was tucked into a stretcher, she sagged against Kotaro, relieved and exhausted.

"Hey, hey, wait. You're going to make me fall."

One of the nearby mages helped steady the pair and took over the job of keeping Mei upright. A healer soon came to her and attended to her leg wound. She looked away as the mage drew out the bullet and sealed up the wound.

"Think you can stand?"

"Yes. Thanks."

The healer smiled and walked away.

"Here, take this," Kotaro said all of a sudden, and tossed her a shiny object.

Mei turned it over in her hands. It was a hairpin, nondescript except for its vaguely flower-shaped design.

"What's it for?"

"A good luck charm. I just happened to have it." Kotaro rubbed his nose. "Natsumi-neechan was going to throw it away, but I thought it looked good, so…" He trailed off.

"Uh… thanks," she murmured.

Mei looked down, very aware that she was blushing.

Fortunately, one of the healers chose that moment to come over and tell Mei, "We're ready to go. Would you like to ride with Goodman-san?"

She nodded.

Kotaro cleared his throat. "Uh, well, I'll see you around then. Hope your sister gets better quickly."

"Th-thanks."

As Mei got into the ambulance, she saw Kaede reappear next to Kotaro. "Good work today, Kotaro-kun," she said.

"Ha, it was nothing."

"Training tomorrow, same place, same time?"

"You got it, Kaede-neesan."

_Kotaro…kun, eh? _

She blushed and shook her head. She turned her gaze to where Takane lay, no longer in any danger, and let a small smile slip onto her face.

As the ambulance sirens began to blare, Mei couldn't help but feel that maybe it was all right to be lucky.

**~Fin**.

---

The rights and properties of Negima and all associated versions of Negima are owned by Ken Akamatsu. All other elements are completely original.

Story written by Eternal Longing.


End file.
